The Church, the Vulnerable, and Responding Well to the Coronavirus

A church in search of the vulnerable and isolated is an irresistible force for good and a worthy witness to the grace of God.

The World Health Organization has now officially recognized the COVID-19 crisis as a pandemic, with more than 100,000 individuals already known to be affected throughout the world. The numbers are likely to continue to rise quickly, both in the U.S. and globally, as the disease spreads and as testing capabilities are expanded.

As we take appropriate precautions to protect ourselves and our families, my prayer is that the church would earn the reputation for caring sacrificially for those who are most vulnerable in the midst of any crisis. This is possible, “for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (I Tim. 1:7).

In the midst of any humanitarian crisis – whether a natural disaster, a war or a public health emergency – those who were vulnerable before the crisis tend to suffer most. When Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake in 2010, the number of casualties was exponentially higher than when earthquakes of similar magnitudes have occurred elsewhere, because of recent flooding and inadequate infrastructure.

Though Haitians of all sorts were affected, those living in the most extreme poverty had the worst living conditions to begin with and also the least margin to respond to an unexpected crisis. Middle- and upper-class individuals generally have some savings to rely upon in the midst of a crisis; the poor are the most likely to become homeless, to lack adequate healthcare and to be forcibly displaced.

The same is certainly true now as the world faces a global pandemic. Whereas many diseases tend to put both the very young and the very old at risk, the coronavirus, mercifully, has thus far not caused significant fatalities among babies or children. …

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